Inane Intervention
by EtrnalRhapsodi
Summary: She believed that she had no regrets in high school. The blonde 25 year old and single Telemarketer proclaimed it to her long time friends in their seven year reunion, until that night...


Author: EtrnalRhapsodi

E-mail: Available in Profile

PG-13

Disclaimer: © Bishoujo Sailor Moon is the property and copyright of

Takeuchi Naoko, Koudansha, TV Asahi, Toei Douga. Any mentioned artists/singers are clearly not my possession either.

Warning: Grammatical and Spelling errors abound.

Inane Intervention

Cold.

If there was one word to describe it, it would have to be cold.

Big.

Alright, so it was big too.

White.

Fine. 89.9 of it is definitely white.

Altogether, there are three words to describe it:

Cold, big, and white - whiteness. Pure utter whiteness dominates its terrain, emitting a sense of isolation and somehow relief. A sense of purity could even be interpreted from it. And so white that some could say it's even blinding.

Big - nothing could ever compare itself to its largeness... its enormity... it could intimidate anyone and anything. You could get lost forever around its hill. Around its terrain. Its rivers of black encircle it, slather it. It's a thick layer of black glacier. The thickness almost shocking you, choking you. It could have an awesome affect on anyone. And it had that affect on myself.

Cold. Excruciatingly cold. To the point you want to curl your toes in pain. You could cry out in agony if one placed themselves on this hill, to endure its un-natural temperature. Or even on its terrain... Isolated terrain. And yet, that is part of its beauty. The massive amount of temperature blown at you if you could take a closer look at it. You marvel, 'how could something so big and something so white, be so cold?'

And yet, on this hill, this huge hill of white and black, this huge hill of the pure essence of 'cold', lay on and all around it, speckles of rainbow. Rainbows - Reds, yellows, oranges, greens, blues, indigos, purples. Colors. Colors enhance more of its beauty. You could agree. You want to agree. And you do agree.

Some specks are buried under the blanket of white and the glacier of black. And for a moment, one could feel what those tiny specks of colors feel. Cold, isolated, and intimidated by the hill's enormity. Forever lost in its natural landscape. They want to escape it, yet somehow, they become one with it. Like becoming one with their chi. Its power. Its essence. Although one would think, 'I pity those specks of color. Being shrouded forever, permanently lost under the harsh landscape that is - the huge hill.' you somehow don't pity them. And you don't.

And yet, some are exposed. Some can, even if temporarily, see the light of day. Some are saved. Some specks may have had that rare chance to escape. To be blown off forever and never return to this hill of black and white.

But most are never saved. All they can do is wish to escape.

"Serena?"

"What?"

"I've never understood, in all of my years knowing you, why you do that."

"What? Do what?"

"Analyze your huge sundae like it's the work of Michelangelo."

'God, why must SHE know me so well?' I thought bitterly, watching as a hesitant spoon hovered over my beautiful sundae. Yes. That hesitant spoon belonged to me. 'God, why must I have no life?'

"Because it is beautiful and it's eye candy." I replied condescendingly.

"Replacing eyeing men with eyeing desserts could be a sign of being sexually deprived." The voice that belonged to my long time best friend, Mina Aino, continued on giggling to further make me feel somewhat pathetic.

'Being sexually deprived is an understatement.' I thought in reply, sarcastically. 'It's more like 'being forever stuck to the notion that I'll forever be virgin.'

Virgin...

Hmm...

Virgin - defined as somebody, especially a woman (insert Serena Tsukino as an immediate example here cough) who has never had sexual intercourse...

Virgin?

Since when did being a virgin become a problem... at all?

Since...

Since having reached the age of 25.

25.

And still single.

Sexless.

Come on folks, don't tell me that there's nothing wrong with that.

'Do tell why that would be a problem, Serena,' The ever famous silent voice, known as my conscience, snickered. 'Do enlighten yourself.'

"So you can take Serena out of high school but you can never take the high school out of Serena."

"Eh?"

"Serena, please," I felt the presence of my 'best friend' move to sit beside me on my right. "It has been seven years. Seven years since high school. The least you could do is to try NOT to zone out on me and continue expressing old habits that do die hard."

"First, It's called eating cautiously. Secondly, I do not 'zone out'. And finally, eating cautiously is a damn good habit," I scrunched my nose in mock disgust as I finally, but delicately, scrapped the outer layer of my immaculate sundae. "Besides, if people don't watch what they put in their mouths, they'll never know if something, so much as a bug, had willfully hopped onto their food and was oblivious to eating such a vial thing-"

"Uh-huh." She interrupted blandly, as I ignored her and continued on.

"And, oh yeah. It may have been seven years since high school, but I've in fact, never stopped befriending you. I would've thought that since you're my best friend that you'd be use to my eating habits."

"Sure." Another lifeless response from her.

"So don't act like you haven't seen me in seven years and think that 'I' have to change my habits for tonight's reunion-"

"Mmhm."

"Okay," I turned to her with a scowl. "That's it. What the hell are you trying to imply?"

Three consecutive crap answers (to sound as if I was having a monologue with myself) meant that Mina was being irritatingly, but being mutely cynical. Or she was kidding me. I hoped she was being the latter.

"Woman. Get laid." She nodded once, then quickly called over the bar tendered who had earlier served me my iced perfection. Oddly enough, the bar tender looked familiar.

"Excuse me?"

"You heard me. Get laid," she retorted with a half smirk. "Giving pathetic excuses as to why you scrutinize your sundae the way that you do only gives away the fact that you need to get laid."

Midway through the third scrape/spooning of my sundae, my eyes widened.

Oh. Ho.

'Serena, do pray tell why being a virgin at the age of 25 is such a disappointment to you,' On cue, my stupid conscience did not fail to correlate itself with what Mina said. 'Do pray tell..'

'Because I'm bitter...'

"I do not need to get laid. For your information, Mina, I'm quite content with my sexual status." I inhaled shakily after having responded.

Unfortunately, Mina noticed my reaction.

"Okay. Okay... relax," She then gave me one look then lightly giggled. "Just teasing you."

I shook my head.

"Oh really? I could've sworn you were implying that I was literally suffering from sexual deprivation-"

"And seven years later your attitude hasn't changed," She retorted.

"And If im not mistaken, your infatuation with Andrew Furuhata hasn't changed much either," I countered back with a knowing smirk.

Oops.

I had pushed one of her buttons. Oh yes. I definitely had.

'Ah ha. No wonder that bar tender looked familiar.'

Mina's unrequited love. Andrew Furuhata. Well, okay. Not exactly unrequited.

Andrew Furuhata. Who was he? He was Mina's apple of her eye. They've been best friends for three years during high school, but something happened, I don't quite remember, but something happened during our senior year. I may have asked Mina about it but she never got around to telling me her story. Or was avoiding it. But I knew Mina had loved him since day one. And they were never more than just friends.

I doubt he ever knew.

And I doubt if Mina ever told him.

"Oh, you just had to go there." She glowered at me, when instantly Andrew himself approached us.

"And what can I get you Ms.?" The dirty blonde haired man, clad in a somewhat dirty apron, off handedly asked Mina who looked quite shocked.

"I... uh..." Immediately, Mina's apprehension of the simple question had failed on her. "Well... see..."

"Hmm... I'll uh... have... um..."

I grinned inwardly, shamelessly enjoying the position my friend was in.

She had been reduced to stutters and mindless murmurs .

"Err..."

"She'll have a... lets see... 'sex on the beach'," I smirked when I noticed Andrew seemed to shift his weight back and forth on each leg which was usually a sign of impatience.

At the corner of my eye, Mina reddened.

"Sure. Right away." He said effortlessly, most likely oblivious to Mina's inhibition as he walked away.

"Um..."

"You can stop being a BDA now." I groaned, sighing after I returned my attention back to my sundae. "And like I said, you are still hung up over him even after all these years."

"S-so? What's wrong with that?" I sensed she was coming back from her shock; her tone of surprise quickly changed to annoyance. "And thanks for calling me a 'Big Dumb Ass'."

"You deserved it." I nodded once, as I continued to scrape up another spoon full of quickly melting ice cream.

"And 'sex on the beach'. Really Serena." I sensed Mina scrunched her nose in embarrassment. "The first thing you order for me is some alcoholic beverage that has the most unique name ever."

Let me elaborate on "sex on the beach":

It's 1 ounce vodka

1 ounce peach schnapps

2 ounces orange juice

2 ounces cranberry juice

Pour all of the ingredients into a highball glass almost filled with ice cubes. Stir well.

Stir well indeed. Thirsty? Because I'm not quite sure of some of the ingredients myself... but damn did it taste good...

'Schnapps - is that some crazy superstitious ritual before making the drink?' Okay I'll stop with the random thoughts.

"DIGRESSING, I, after many years of knowing you myself, still do not understand why you put yourself in that position. Why keep doing it?" I heard myself say despite the different thoughts that were in my mind.

"I..."

"Why don't you ask the guy out already? It's been a long time since high school. You should have the confidence by now-"

"Look. He's married," was her instant reply.

Whoa. I didn't see this one coming.

"Oh."

"'Oh' is right," She sighed once, picking up a lone napkin in front of her and started toying with it. "In fact, I've actually seen her."

"Really?" I asked.

"Rita. Two years," She replied dully, as she continued on folding the napkin origami style. "They tied the knot two years ago. I had a conversation with her last week when I came in for the reservation. One minute I was having a nice conversation with her, and the next Andrew pops in surprising me and romantically greets his wife. I had no idea his wife would be the nice brown eyed brunette herself."

"Ah, a hitched man is never a road to be treaded on," Or so I've heard.

"I mean, I knew Andrew was married but it never occurred to me until now, you know?" She sighed, adding the final touches to her origami creature which was the typical paper crane. "And it just hit me. She's so nice."

"Too bad she doesn't look like one of those conniving wenches?" I smirked, scrapping up another spoonful of ice cream.

"Can't hate her. She was kind enough to speak to Andrew right away about booking this joint for tonight."

This 'joint' indeed. Who would've thought the Crown Arcade would ever receive a full make-over from being a teenager's haven to a successfully running karaoke bar that still had the remnants of ever being an arcade (IE Sailor V machines still around, trying to accomplish the look of a novelty and not doing bad at pulling it off).

"Two years too late huh?"

"Two years too late."

Silence fell, when I lazily looked up from my sundae. Andrew was returning to us with 'sex on the beach' in hand.

He then placed the drink in-between Mina and I, walking away as soon as the glass touched the counter.

"Thanks." She sighed longingly after him. "And he doesn't even recognize me."

"Hmm?"

"He WAS my best friend you know," She shrugged nonchalantly. "One would expect a best friend to recognize them... especially on my birthday. I feel hurt."

"Well what do you expect? You immediately ran off for Paris right after high school," I off-handedly said, scooping up another spoonful of ice cream. "Seven years of having lost contact with him. For goodness sakes, I take it you didn't even get informed, hearing it from his own mouth, that he was getting married up until now-"

"So how's work?" I frowned instantly at the interrupting inquiry.

Why would I frown? Perhaps because I was interrupted?

Or perhaps it was my job?

"How dare you ask me that question," my sundae was officially 50 melted, as I started to stir it/play with it.

"God, Serena. There's nothing wrong with your job. And yet you're still ashamed of it."

Why was I ashamed of it?

"I'm not ashamed of it. I'm just... not exactly proud of it."

"Right..."

A pause followed suit as Mina and I enjoyed the tastes that she and I consumed, probably wondering silently as to remember why we were here exactly.

"Oh yeah," I smirked lazily. "Happy birthday."

"Thanks." She somewhat sighed but then put on a simple smile as she raised her drink towards me.

Taking the glass of ice water that sat beside my bowl of ice cream, I clinked it with her 'sex on the beach' as well, murmuring a quiet "cheers" then drank.

"Sexless, pessimistic, and unhappy with her job," She pretended to yawn, breaking another comfortable pause that ensued after our toast . "Don't worry Serena. I'll be just like you. Give me a year tops."

"Thanks." I mumbled, resisting the urge to roll my eyes. "So you've officially comforted me... Like I needed it."

---

A seven year high school reunion. Seven years. If it had been three more years, it would've been the typical ten year reunion. But no. Mina insisted that it just had to be on her birthday as well.

Seven years.

Seven years of having no life.

Four of them in college.

Three of them living life blandly.

Bland. Plain Jane. That was me.

After graduating high school, I went off to college. Majored in communications, I graduated. I finally landed a job so intolerable, so vial, so... so...

Hated. Hated by almost half of society.

And three years of it. Doing it.

I was the queen of this job.

I hated it and somehow I loved it.

What was I?

What is this job?

(Insert drum roll here)

(Is the audience groaning in anticipation?)

Because I am...

Queen of Telemarketing.

Day in day out. Having to put up hours and hours on end with people who were insufferable and obnoxious and... plainly put, rude.

But the telemarketer didn't go without a vengeance. See, we had the power to call whomever we wanted and harass them legally... but subtly. In a sense, being irritating, with let's say, people you hated, became a dream job. But then having to put up with what was said on the other end of the line became a nightmare as well.

The life of the telemarketer indeed.

And four years of college for this?

Utterly insane.

But if you were the boss for the communications department for a highly acclaimed company... and were damn good at it, one would probably say otherwise.

"Serena, they're here." Mina motioned toward the sliding glass doors of the Arcade.

Although it was a seven year reunion slash Mina's birthday, there were only going to be five of us altogether attending. The other three would be Lita Kino, Raye Hino, and finally Amy Mizuro; they were the girls we haven't seen in a long while and we have dearly missed.

Dearly missed indeed.

"Serena? Mina?" Lita spoke first and following behind her were Raye and Amy. "Oh my god, you guys look great!"

I doubted that statement.

"Happy birthday!" All three greeted Mina at once.

"Thanks." was her simple reply.

Okay, so Lita was telling half the truth. The birthday girl undoubtedly had looked great. Being the fashionista she was years ago, unlike myself, she had pursued her dream career of being in the business of fashion.

In other words, she was the head of advertisement in her company... something about window displays, billboard advertisement and the like. And looking great? Not to mention she had access to the latest couture, and terminologies that took me about a year to understand; among the terminologies I had to learn were 'little Gucci black dresses', 'Saks fifth avenue stilettos (Jimmy Choos or Manolos)', and yes LV hand bags. She was definitely the pinnacle of looking great and I was at the pinnacle of confusing myself with these strange 'fashion words'.

It was good enough to know she was making money and doing what she loved to do. Don't get me wrong. Just because she never got with Andrew doesn't mean she never dated either. She had her share of the men. And I... had my share of ice cream.

Which brings us back to-

"Serena... Same 'ol same 'ol eh?" Raye grinned as all three of them situated themselves around the table. "You're still the junk food addict?"

"You're still the insufferable pyromaniac that you are?" I punctually remarked, remembering that it was my usual greeting for my best friend way back in the day. For some reason, that nickname suited her so well and I never bothered to know why either.

"Yup. She sure is." The raven haired woman smirked, taking my sarky response as a yes.

Raye Hino. I've heard that she finally took over her grandfather's responsibilities of the 'Cherry Hill Temple' since his retirement three years ago. Right after college, she immediately began getting use to maintaining the somewhat non-profit organization, probably adding services that she always wanted included for her clients (i.e. fully utilizing the hidden hot spring located a few yards behind the temple, adding massage therapies and yoga services to let the 'chi' out) and doing part time as a lounge singer in some swanky bar, a little less extravagant compared to the Crown Arcade, as a means of earning some extra bucks.

Plainly put, Raye was happy with what she was doing unlike the bitter old spinster that is I... ah, bitter indeed.

"So Lita, how's the restaurant going?" Mina casually inquired, setting down a glass of water she was sipping from.

"Eh, not doing so well." Lita's smile faltered, replaced by a mild scowl on her face. "One of the best food critics stopped by four weeks ago to see how the place was, to write a review for the Juuban Enquirer, and to my surprise he was that jerk that I was being anal with the day he arrived, not knowing exactly who he was... And after his 'flawless' review of my place, business hasn't been quite the same since."

Lita Kino. Back in the day, she was the group's all time favorite cook of the century. From her curry chicken to her scrumptious sushi, we practically worshiped her for her cooking talents. Thus, with our praise for her cooking in mind, she opened up 'Kino's Kitchen' across town two years ago. The last I heard, she was making a good profit out of the joint, that is, until now.

"It's just one review, Lita." Amy tried to give a comforting smile to the brunet. "In about less than a month, the place will be back on top again once the review dies down. You know how people are; if people liked your cooking before, there's no doubt in mind they'll come back to it again."

Our most successful person out of the group - Amy Mizuro. One of the best neuro-surgeons in the country in a nutshell. A prodigy back then, Amy studied over seas then came back to do what she loved best - helping people where most doctors couldn't and she is succeeding extremely well. The woman is probably beyond our class but somehow she never lost contact with us. Was it because of her genuine and simple personality? Was it because she is one who never really cared about anything but help other people out? Most probably.

"Amy's right," I nodded in agreement. "Let it boil to evaporate. The review will be forgotten sooner than you think."

"Thanks. But anyway, let's forget me and my problems and lets get the party started." Immediately, Lita's scowl transformed to a grin. "It's not only a reunion after all, it's Mina's birthday too."

"So bring out the party favors." Raye chimed in as all of us turned toward the entrance of the private room that the Crown Arcade offered us for the night. "Where's our waiter?"

"Oh, let me call one over-" Mina immediately stood up but was halted by Lita's act of volunteering of doing it herself.

"I got this one. Just you guys sit back and I'll call one over."

And a few minutes flew by while the rest of us continued to wait and chat comfortably over the latest news and matters.

Until Raye decided to ignite the dynamite that I hoped would be buried for the night, being the pyromaniac that she is.

"Serena, how's sex?" She bluntly asked, that annoying smirk following after the statement.

I reddened.

Was I angered? Was I embarrassed... for the lack of it?

Or not ever having experienced it...

Suppressing a scowl and to let this one off, I cooly smiled and replied, "Fine."

I was wishing a great deal that it was enough for her to let go of the subject and turn to something else.

"Is that so? What's the name of this lucky beast?" She drawled, the smirk still on her while an eye brow raised in skepticism.

The other two girls on the table quickly stopped their conversation, while one of their sentences have been stated only half way.

Probably Mina's.

For a moment, I panicked. I wasn't prepared to lie to her far more than I already have but I should've known that the fib would back fire.

"Frank." I simply stated, uttering the first name that came to mind. "Yes. His name's F-Frank."

"Really. Frank?" For a moment, Raye's grin faltered a little. However, the skeptical eye brow stayed just where it was. "Do I know him? What's his last name?"

Before I could think it thoroughly, my mouth spoke before the important process of 'pondering' took place. "Sinatra."

I think I wanted to die there and then.

(And the crowed goes wild, cheering "HEY BDA, You're depriving a village of its idiot!", their echos resounding in my head. They even added, "Hey isn't that old blue eyes? He's the famous dead singer!")

Mina, while trying to quench a thirst, spit out what she was drinking, the contents having flown to Amy's direction.

"Hey!" Amy squeaked in surprise.

"Hey!" Before I was trying to comprehend what was starting to happen, Lita burst through the entrance with a big smile on her face, while Andrew was being dragged in from behind her. "Look who I have to serve us!"

Bingo.

'Oh dear god I'm saved.' A gleeful thought instantly ran in my head.

"A-Andrew?" Raye had turned around in attention to Lita's exciting entrance. "Andrew Furuhata?"

Lita then dragged him toward us further, quickly scanning over Mina, who had suddenly froze in her place, and Amy, who began to immediately wipe herself off with a napkin. She then quickly averted her attention to us in general. "Yup! It sure has been a while!"

Mina had turned pale and started to look like a gawking fish.

She definitely didn't plan on having been recognized by Andrew after her encounter with him at the bar earlier, considering that it was futile because she wanted him to do it on his own. However, fate was not on her side at this point.

"Andrew, this is Amy Mizuro, Raye Hino, Serena Tsukino," Lita then pointed out each of us out, while we, in turn, nodded with a smile in reply. Lita then smiled more widely, finally stopping at Mina. "And Mina Aino, which im sure you already know."

Apparently, Andrew was expressing surprise as he finally laid eyes with Mina for the first time in seven years, realization clearly seen on his features.

"M-Mina? Is that... really you?" He gaped at her, a wide smile growing from ear to ear. He then immediately extended a hand to her for a shake. "Oh my god! Mina! It's been so long! I- I hardly recognize you!"

Seeing that my friend decided she was content at just gaping at him like the BDA that she was earlier on, I quickly nudged her with my right elbow. She then snapped out as it, probably being mesmerized by him for the second time this night.

"Er... uh... come here you! Give me a hug!" Instead of the hand shake, she rose from her seat and gave him a bear hug, him doing the same as well.

"You mean, Andrew hasn't seen Mina recently?" Lita widened her eyes questioningly, while she seated herself back down with us. "My, my..."

"Uh, yup," was all I could say.

"So wait, that was you and Serena at the bar earlier tonight?" We watched as the two conversed with wide smiles.

I grinned.

"Hey, she loves her 'sex on the beach'." I smirked when I couldn't let the timing of this situation pass by. "Right Mina? But, you were too busy... playing with your napkin... making some origami creation..."

She then turned around to glare at me for a bit mumbling, "Yeah it was us. Heh. We sure didn't recognize you either..."

"Hey Andrew, why don't you join us for tonight and partake in our occasion?" Lita immediately smiled as the rest of us seemed to agree with her idea. "It's our little seven year reunion."

"It'll be fun." Raye seconded the notion.

"I-I'd love to but... tonight's a full house so I don't think I can right now..." He then smiled to Mina apologetically, trailing off hesitantly.

"Not even on Mina's birthday?" Amy smiled joining in with the agreement.

"It's her birthday?" He looked surprised at Mina yet again. "...Well... in that case, if you guys are still hanging around later on, I'll try to come by and stay for a bit."

"S-sure." Mina slightly stuttered, still smiling as she quietly seated herself down again.

"Aww, alright then. We'll let you go." Lita replied, but then slightly slammed the top of the table with her hand. "But make sure you don't forget us when you're about done."

"Of course." He beamed.

"So since you're on duty, why don't you take down our ammunition?" Raye chuckled with a wink. "I'll have a 'Sex on the first date' if you catch my drift. What about you guys?"

Apparently, Raye expressed that she wasn't new to alcoholic beverages. However, we didn't seem to notice as we gave our orders to our waiter who kept gazing at Mina as if she was about to change into a swan.

Two years too late indeed.

---

"Do you guys still remember senior year?" Raye giggled as she sipped her drink. "Honestly, that was the best year ever."

"I have to agree with you there." Lita shook her head with an agreeing grin. "The guys literally showed us what 'growth spirt' meant that year. Hot guys just popping up everywhere."

Raye and Lita, even after seven years, still had the school girlish conversations they use to have back then, during our lunch breaks. "Yeah, those were good times."

Seeing that the two started conversing on their own, Mina, Amy, and I decided to converse on the next best memories other than boys.

Like I even had any memories of boys to share for that matter.

(cough)

"Hey. Do any of you guys remember the Masquerade ball in senior year?" Mina beamed and smiled. "I swear, who ever took charge of that dance was really a genius."

I had to agree with Mina.

Staring off into the corner of the room, I tried to remember attending the first and last dance in senior year - which was the dance that Mina was referring to. The place, where the event was held, was fantastic.

Balloons were strewn everywhere, a disco ball over head, and the best dressed people were there. Although I didn't have a date, unlike Mina who had a date with some random guy I didn't know, I really did enjoy the scenery. Especially at the end of the dance where everyone was lost in the dark, I enjoyed trying to watch partners exchanged partners. That was pretty unique for it was hilarious considering not everyone in the room had night vision, the lights having been turned off, hearing yelps and giggles from people who were bumping into each other, or stepping on someone else's foot for the lack of lighting.

Comical and worth my time.

But also, I remembered I had felt as if something were missing... There was something about that dance.

Like something was meant to happen, as if I was I was expecting something... or someone.

But of course, I dismissed it as if it was nothing.

"Actually, I don't want to gloat or boast but... I was in charge of the dance." Amy smiled, as Mina widened her eyes in surprise.

"You're kidding." I slightly gasped with a smirk. "That was the best dance I ever attended in high school. EVER. Considering that I haven't been to many dances back then."

"That's great Amy! Man, I tell you, that was a fantastic idea you had there." Mina sighed dreamily. "And you know why? It was the only time I ever got to see my crush look SO hot."

I chuckled, "In other words, the decorations, the event, everything was great." However, I knew exactly what Mina was referring to and 'who' she was referring to.

"Thanks." Amy replied with a smile.

"However, there's one thing I regret doing in that dance," Mina sighed yet again with longing. "Taking that stupid dork Melvin to the dance."

I blinked in surprise. Apparently, my memory deceived me a little bit.

"You took Melvin?" I asked a bit shocked.

"Uh, yeah." She looked at me a bit annoyed. "I thought you knew that."

"Well, I must've forgotten."

"And 'I' must've forgotten too!" Raye interrupted, as she joined in with us. "Or, it could be that you never told me!"

"Mina, the same goes for me too." Lita crossed her arms across her chest and raised an eye brow. "Actually, maybe it was... at best to not have told the both of us about it after all."

"What!" Raye turned to Lita as if she grew another head.

That was unexpected.

"Raye, come on. Like Mina regretting having to take Melvin as a date, I too have our regrets of having been... a little too valley girl like back then."

A concession from Lita? Genuine? Sincere? Heh. I knew the day would come. Although Lita and Raye had been a bit annoying back then, I always knew the two had good hearts, the gossip that they use to exchange among other people was always getting the best of them.

Raye's glare on Lita slowly dissipated as she then turned toward Mina with a hesitant smile. "Eh, I suppose... Lita's right. We have... over done things a bit back then."

"Thanks for having been friends with us this long." Lita then smiled genuinely, while I couldn't help but let a corner of my mouth tug upward for a half grin. "Consider this... a birthday present from us."

"Cheap-Os." I grinned. "A confession... a gift? I could've done better."

Some of us laughed for awhile until I saw a wry smile form on Raye's lips, which meant Raye was going to retort for a come back.

"Right, Serena." Raye drawled, as I prepared myself for it. "I think you probably can do better... at confessing"

"Hmm?" I was a bit confused at that. "Elaborate please... Like I have anything to-"

"Can you confess... about your sex life with us? Ms. Dater of Old Blue eyes?"

If only I had a pitch fork to stab Raye with from across the table.

I paled.

"Shut up Raye. Just drop it.".

From the corner of my eye, Lita nudged her with an elbow and Raye looked at her quickly. Taking a hidden hint from the brunet, Raye sighed and spoke, "Eh, so... uh, now that Lita and I shared our regret, any of you guys wanna share what they had in high school?"

"Actually," All of us then looked at Amy intently, a bit surprised she was first to volunteer. "I regret not having been out there for boys. You know, I should've tried to be more of an extrovert when guys where around."

"Amy!" Mina giggled exasperatedly. "It never struck me that you'd been wanting to go after males back then... If you've said something to me, I would've helped you out long ago."

"Well, as the conversation goes, I'm only sharing a regret." The blue haired woman just smiled and shrugged. "I would've probably gone to you for help if that is any consolation to you."

"Thanks Amy. But as for my own regret..." Mina then looked passed Amy toward the entrance and outside as if she was looking for someone subtly. "I have to admit, I wish I was... Up front with my best friend back then. I... I wish I told him how I felt."

And nobody said a word. Either some of us were confused, or were holding back unwanted comments.

'If only I kept urging Mina to go and tell him already.' A thought secretly crossed my mind.

"Uh..." I tried to clear my throat, picking up an almost empty bottle of beer to my lips. "I don't know about you guys, but I have no regrets."

And suddenly, all eyes were on me.

"Surely you must have something." Amy chuckled, for the first time skepticism in her tone. "Not even something small like... having maybe studied for a test a bit harder or... doing some extra credit?"

And for the first time, I looked at Amy as if she said something incredibly stupid. "Uh, no."

"Not even hanging out with us as much as you should've?" Raye looked at me a bit exasperated.

"Yeah, or like that crazy addiction you had for video games?" Lita joined in as well.

"What about... having been a little bit more cheerful and optimistic back then?" Mina commented, finally striking the last nail in the coffin.

"As much as I appreciate you guys POINTING out some of my mistakes in high school... or flaws in most cases," I coughed a bit again, giving everyone equal time in glaring. "I however, do not regret them, rather, I acknowledge that they are normal teenage mistakes, nothing to fuss over. And simple put, I have no regrets."

"But..." Amy added. "Are you sure there isn't something you wish you could've changed at all?"

"No."

"Alright, that's enough trying to sway Serena now." Raye yawned as if she was bored then took my empty bottle of beer and placed it on the table to spin it around. "Why don't we entertain ourselves or something? It's a Karaoke bar for goodness sakes!"

---

"Oh... God." I mumbled as I pinched the bridge of my nose, cringing.

"Fly me... to the moon and let me play among the stars." Raye grinned widely as the giant screen continued to blare and color the appearing lyrics on the screen. "Let my see what spring is like on... Jupiter and Mars."

She then wiggled her hips and turned to me to give a wink.

This time, I didn't resist rolling my eyes.

"In other words... hold my hand. In other words, baby kiss me."

Can anyone guess which song she's butchering?

"Fill my heart with song and let me sing forever more." She raised her free arm and let it down dramatically as a form of a 'singer's' gesture. "You are all I long for, all I worship and adore."

She has successfully mutilated one of the best songs of all time, from none other than Sinatra himself.

"In other words, please be true. In other words, I love you."

"I hate you." I countered back with a scowl on my face, not bothering to whisper the statement.

In response, she only winked, continuing to take the song apart piece by piece.

Okay. So I have to admit she really IS a good singer (considering she is getting paid at some other karaoke bar like I've mentioned) and one could probably guess why I'm making her look horrible.

The other girls seemed to have a good time although I probably knew that they were trying hard not to burst out in laughter.

Raye was trying to tease me in another way rather than being blunt about it like she was an hour ago.

"Oh well, whatever."

"Ha. A beautiful score of 99. No one can top that for sure." Raye gloated with a cheeky grin, raising the microphone up in the air as if to stretch. Yes. Like the score proved on the giant screen, Raye was undoubtedly a good singer. "Alright, next person to sing and suffer the consequences of my version of 'spin the bottle.'

Her version of 'spin the bottle?' Well, to put it this way, Raye will take an empty bottle of beer, which is probably mine, lay it on the table and spin it. Whom ever the bottle points to not only sings karaoke but also has to be asked the old high school game question: 'Truth or Dare?"

Raye took the beer bottle and spun it around to have it then point to... not me. Yup. As much as I noted the look on her eye, the look of wanting me to be her next victim, the pointer spared me and instead made Mina take the hot seat.

"Ah. This just... sucks!" Mina immediately whined, trying to painfully raise herself off her seat and receive the Mic from Raye, who looked a bit disappointed herself. "Blasphemy! I disown you as a friend Raye! It's my birthday!"

"And I love you too." Was Raye's curt reply.

Hitting the buttons on the microphone, the first few notes of 'LOVE' from Nat King Cole started to play as Mina began to squeeze on the audio contraption tightly.

"Uh... L... is for the way you look at me. O... is for the only one I see." As much as I loved Mina, her beats on the song was way off, causing her to sound a bit... out of place.

'Oh dear goodness at least the song's about, at most, 2:34 minutes,' which meant we didn't have to endure it for this long.

"Two in love can make it, take my heart and please don't break it. LOVE, was made for me and you."

"Love, is made for cows." I sang along with Mina, a smirk forming. The other girls just shook their heads and laughed at me while we stood standing, clapping our hands with merriment.

"Love, was MADE for me and YOU!" She turned around to me with a playful glare then smiled widely when the song ended. "Thank you. Thank you very much."

For the entire song, her score was a decent 79.

She smiled at that quite satisfied.

"With a touch of Elvis too eh?" I could help but comment as she then stood still to take a breather and let the adrenaline finally decrease.

"Alright Mina. Truth or Dare?" Raye immediately stated, running a hand through her hair as well as taking a breath.

Mina paused for a moment then replied, "Truth."

"Alright." Raye placed a hand on her chin for a moment to think up a good question... and if I knew her very well, which I did, she would ask something personal and a bit embarrassing.

"From the looks of a couple of hours ago, why haven't you seen Andrew recently? As if you barely saw each other tonight?"

'Do you really want to hear a speech from Mina, Raye?' A thought snickered quietly. 'Good luck Mina.'

"...A-As if you don't remember... I went to Paris? I... Lost contact with him!" Mina stuttered a little mortified. "That's why."

"Alright Mina." I stated to halt anymore inquiries Raye may have wanted to ask. "It's your turn to spin."

Looking at me gratefully, she then took the spun the bottle on the table, while everyone began to stare at it with anticipation.

"Round and round... nobody knows... nobody knows where it will go..." Apparently, Mina spun it too hard, the bottle spinning longer than it should have. Raye had sung that little ditty out of sarcasm.

Just as I was about to mumble something like 'shut-up', the bottle pointed right at me.

'You save a friend... and what do you get in return? They aim the cannon right at you...' I thought, sighing as I shrugged when I took the microphone from my blonde friend. She only smiled apologetically.

"Alright..." I mumbled nonchalantly as I pressed the digits on the gadget. "Here goes nothing."

Deciding that I wanted to do a song from a different era than the 'Oldies' (No offence because I do love that era to some degree), I dialed in the numbers for a song sung by Lucy Woodward, the song titled, 'The Trouble with Me'.

And the first beats began to play. "Thinking that I want you, and you know that I could've got what I want."

"Anybody feel that? When you know, but your heart lets it go 'til it's all gone." I sang, feeling quite liberated at the moment. "It's not like I don't see it, when it's coming on, still I feel like I don't belong..."

If people knew me well, which I had the feeling they didn't, they'd know I wasn't a very good singer but at the same time, I wasn't so much horrible as um... well Mina. Oh what the hell. I was definitely just as bad as Mina but I loved the song, smirking as I did a similar hip wiggle that Raye had done to me recently. In turn the girls just danced and laughed along.

"The trouble with me is I'm the sum of the parts of something wild. It's a little big thing and I know it." I bellowed heartily and grinning. "The trouble with me is I got the heart of nobody's child, but I don't wanna be free... That's the trouble with me..."

When I turned around to face them, something else caught my attention. Andrew and someone very familiar (and damn well handsome believe me) were near the entrance of our rented karaoke room for the night. As they conversed, the dark haired mysterious looking man looked through the entrance and right at me. For the briefest moment, he stared at me as if awed followed by a growing grin on his lips. Obviously their conversation not being ear shot, I read their bodies movements as the man then placed a hand on Andrew's shoulder and tried to move themselves away from the entrance.

I scowled a little until I realized that the song was over.

My grade? A point lower than Mina's decent score.

"I always knew singing wasn't one of your talents." Raye chuckled, as I resisted the urge to bat the Mic on her head.

"Uh.. Truth or Dare?" Mina asked as soon as we were done taking a breather.

Truth. If it were that, I'm sure they'd have a hard time trying to pry some dirty little secret out of me when I knew there wasn't one, period. Being a good friend that I was, a dare was definitely in order being a good change of pace in the game.

And I should've known as well that as I sang and had abruptly paused at the scene outside our room earlier, Raye was the only one who followed my curious gaze.

"Dare." Before I could have thoroughly thought that decision through, Raye gave that famous look all over again.

"Uh... I dare you to... uh..." I had forgotten Mina was the one giving me the dare so I was partially safe. That is, until she spoke, "Uh... guys? Someone tell me what to dare her to do."

I wanted to smack my forehead immaturely.

Raye then walked up to Mina and whispered in her ear.

Damn it all. Ugh...

"Raye gave me a good one. Sort of..." Mina wrinkled her nose as if to think over Raye's suggestion. "Alright, I dare you, Serena, to ask the guy... Andrew was talking to earlier-"

"While you sang." Raye interrupted happily.

"To a date." Mina then shrugged.

The life of a twenty-five year old Telemarketer... Indeed.

-------------------------------

Thank you for reading 


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